2024 State of the Science Workshop

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The 2024 State of the Science Workshop is expected to be held in the greater New York City area during the week of July 15th, 2024. This biennial workshop is hosted by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on behalf of the Environmental Technical Working Group (E-TWG).

 

The 2024 Workshop theme is Taking an Ecosystem Approach: Integrating Offshore Wind, Wildlife, and Fisheries. The 2024 meeting is the first State of the Science Workshop that will include a focus on fisheries as well as environmental and wildlife topics. Sessions will focus on: 

• Understanding wildlife and wildlife habitat: populations and distributions

• Offshore wind development effects and species/ecosystem responses

• Offshore wind development effects and fisheries: social/economic responses

• Monitoring, minimization, and mitigation approaches

• Cumulative impacts of offshore wind energy development

• Collaborative processes to improve development and conservation outcomes (including guidance, data sharing, and other collaborative efforts)

• Integration of fisheries data, marine protected species, and wildlife data to identify wind energy areas and planning areas

• Ecosystem interactions: physical and biological interactions and changes in ecosystems across trophic levels ​in response to offshore wind and other stressors

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The call for abstracts for workshops and symposia is expected to open in the autumn of 2023, with an open call for individual presentations (including both oral presentations and posters) shortly thereafter. The scientific planning committee is particularly interested in hosting workshops and symposia on the following topics:

• The interface of science and policy – how science is applied to inform siting, design, permitting, monitoring, and mitigation of offshore wind farms ​

• Methods for monitoring and mitigation: technology development and integration ​

• Conservation opportunities relating to offshore wind: net positive impacts, conservation offsets, compensatory mitigation, and other mechanisms for offshore wind to have a positive impact on wildlife and fisheries ​

• Ecosystem interactions: ecosystem approaches to understanding offshore wind effects, including a focus on both physical and biological interactions and how offshore wind energy (and other stressors such as climate change) may change ecosystems across trophic levels ​

• Correlation vs. causation: determining causes of ecosystem change

• Updates on the latest approaches and findings from the U.S. and elsewhere around the world 

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